Garda Vetting

Garda Vetting

National Early Years Inspectorate Consultative Forum
Briefing session re: National Vetting Bureau 21.6.16

It is important to be aware that there are two pieces of legislation National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 and the Child Care Regulations (the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016. Requirements are those under the regulations.
Information regarding those who need to obtain Vetting can be found in schedule 1 of the Act which defines relative work with children.
Not having Irish vetting in place is a criminal offence, not having police vetting from another jurisdiction is a non-compliance, and repeat offensive of non-compliance will get escalated.
There is no specified time frame within the Act best practice is re-vetting should occurs every 3 years.
Although it has been mentioned that vetting now takes 48 hours this is from the point of online submission. From start to finish the process can take 7-10 working days. It is important that CCC’s are communicating this to providers and Túsla will also amend their communications accordingly. The e-vetting portal can be seen, however, it cannot be accessed on an individual basis. Applications must be submitted by ECI, Barnardos or relevant 3rd level institution.

Board/Staff/Students/Contractors:

Board members are in a position of authority and under the regulations must be vetted. Any new Boards need to have vetting in place from 1st July. Existing boards will be afforded an opportunity to obtain their vetting however it is advisable that they start this process.

If a service has a staff member who was employed after 29th April 2016 and they have no vetting on inspection they will be asked to leave the premises until vetting is obtained. If a staff member employed prior to 29th April 2016 has no vetting on inspection it will be a non-compliance and conditions may be attached to registration.

Students, relief staff, contractors – a certified copy of the disclosure declaration need to be keep in the service. This must be a stamped certified copy or the service themselves must stamp that it is a true copy of the original seen dated. If the disclosure declaration has a positive disclosure a letter should accompany the certified copy with explanation. Decision needs to be made by the provider in relation to the risk this positive disclosure poses.

International Vetting:

International police vetting is the property of the individual therefore they need only obtain once and provide a copy to employers/colleges. Providers needs to note it is a true copy of the original seen on and date. International vetting from countries that now don’t exist or are war torn etc need to write to the embassy and have a response on file.

Disclosure Scotland is no longer applicable, vetting for all of the UK needs to be through ACRO. Existing employees with Disclosure Scotland police vetting will need to update through ACRO. There will be details on ACRO in the Q&A document. Sole traders, childminders or those at the top of an organisation i.e director need a letter from Túsla to process their ACRO application this can be obtained for their local inspector or the inspection and registration manager.

Childcare Services need to update their vetting policy accordingly to include change in legislation, procedure for risk assessment of any positive disclosures.

Retention of records in relation to Vetting is 5 years. Certified copies of students vetting needs to be held for this period.

Below are contact details of organisations that carry out the Garda Vetting process for childcare providers:

Barnardos Vetting Service

The Bowling Green, White Street, Cork.

Unit 12c, Bluebell Business Park, Old Naas Road, Bluebell, Dublin 12

Phone: 01 4601138

About Us

Monaghan County Childcare Committee promotes the development and delivery of accessible and affordable high quality early childhood care and education services which assist the overall developmental needs of children and supports parents and childcare service providers throughout County Monaghan.